N.J. home sales rose 18% in 2013, realtors say

The number of homes sold in New Jersey last year reached their highest levels since 2005, rising 18.1 percent to almost 95,000 units, the New Jersey Association of Realtors said Tuesday.

Single-family home prices, both nationally and in the region, are only at the levels of mid-2004 and remain about 20 percent below their peaks in mid-2006, according to Case-Shiller.

At the same time, home prices rose 3.1 percent to a median $283,500, the NJAR said.

NJAR says that Bergen County single-family prices rose 5.7 percent in December 2013, compared with a year earlier, to a median $460,000. Passaic County prices rose 4.9 percent, to a median $300,000, over the same period.

The NJAR's numbers, which are based on reports from the state's multiple listing services, show a recovering home market - a picture reinforced by a report Tuesday from the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller home price index, which uses different methods to track home prices.

According to Case-Shiller, single-family home values in the New York metropolitan area, including North Jersey, rose by 6 percent in November, compared with a year earlier. While that reflected a renewed vitality in the real estate market, the rise was less than half the national increase of 13.7 percent.

Even with the recent rebound, single-family home prices, both nationally and in the region, are only at the levels of mid-2004 and remain about 20 percent below their peaks in mid-2006, according to Case-Shiller.

The region's home prices are recovering more slowly than the nation as a whole in part because property values here didn't drop as dramatically as in other areas. In addition, New Jersey's job growth has been slow, and the state has a large backlog of distressed properties heading into the foreclosure pipeline.

Case-Shiller does not break out prices by county.

"November was a good month for home prices," says David M. Blitzer, chairman of the index committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices. "Looking at the year-over-year returns, the Sun Belt continues to push ahead, with Atlanta, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, Phoenix, San Diego, San Francisco and Tampa taking eight of the top nine spots.

"While housing will make further contributions to the economy in 2014, the pace of price gains is likely to slow during the year," Blitzer continued.

"Price gains should start to narrow later this year as new construction starts replenishing the lean inventories that are driving prices up," wrote IHS Global Insight economists Patrick Newport and Stephanie Karol in a report. "We expect prices to move into the high single digits in 2014 and into the low single digits in 2015."

Single-family home prices, both nationally and in the region, are only at the levels of mid-2004 and remain about 20 percent below their peaks in mid-2006, according to Case-Shiller.

At the same time, home prices rose 3.1 percent to a median $283,500, the NJAR said.

NJAR says that Bergen County single-family prices rose 5.7 percent in December 2013, compared with a year earlier, to a median $460,000. Passaic County prices rose 4.9 percent, to a median $300,000, over the same period.

The NJAR's numbers, which are based on reports from the state's multiple listing services, show a recovering home market - a picture reinforced by a report Tuesday from the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller home price index, which uses different methods to track home prices.

According to Case-Shiller, single-family home values in the New York metropolitan area, including North Jersey, rose by 6 percent in November, compared with a year earlier. While that reflected a renewed vitality in the real estate market, the rise was less than half the national increase of 13.7 percent.

Even with the recent rebound, single-family home prices, both nationally and in the region, are only at the levels of mid-2004 and remain about 20 percent below their peaks in mid-2006, according to Case-Shiller.

The region's home prices are recovering more slowly than the nation as a whole in part because property values here didn't drop as dramatically as in other areas. In addition, New Jersey's job growth has been slow, and the state has a large backlog of distressed properties heading into the foreclosure pipeline.

Case-Shiller does not break out prices by county.

"November was a good month for home prices," says David M. Blitzer, chairman of the index committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices. "Looking at the year-over-year returns, the Sun Belt continues to push ahead, with Atlanta, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, Phoenix, San Diego, San Francisco and Tampa taking eight of the top nine spots.

"While housing will make further contributions to the economy in 2014, the pace of price gains is likely to slow during the year," Blitzer continued.

"Price gains should start to narrow later this year as new construction starts replenishing the lean inventories that are driving prices up," wrote IHS Global Insight economists Patrick Newport and Stephanie Karol in a report. "We expect prices to move into the high single digits in 2014 and into the low single digits in 2015."